The Proposal
The proposal
"Would you go down stairs for dinner or do you want me to bring it here in bed?" Alex asked Lara who had coiled herself up under the covers.
He had stayed back in the bathroom in order to have a soliloquy. He needed time to assimilate everything before facing her again.
"I'm not hungry," she replied without turning to face him.
"You haven't eaten anything yet. You barely touched your food back there at the resto." He walked over to her side of the bed and sat beside her. "You've got to eat something." He insisted. She had her back turned towards him.
"No, I have got to tell my parents. I don't know what they'll think of me." She said, "it's my fault though." She grumbled with a cute pout.
He leaned down over her, tugged the edges of the covers just below her neck so that he could have a clear view of her cute face. "Why would it even be that big of a problem, you are no longer a teenager right? And it is not your fault." He tried to console her. "It was a mutual and consensual relationship. We are in this together, ok?" He assured her lovingly.
"It has always been a disgrace for a girl to have a baby without getting married, among my people." She said sorrowfully. " You probably wouldn't understand it, because you francophones are free to do whatever you guys want with your lives."
"Oh!" Alex said quickly, he felt sort of sorry and guilty, especially because he knew nothing about her or where she was, and now, she had to go through alot.
He withdrew his body from her, walked over to his side of the bed. At least she no longer had her back towards him.
She watched him fetch something in his bedside drawal, even though she could not make out exactly what it was, she decided not to prey. Because he pulled out whatever it was from the lowest drawal compartment, she couldn't see clearly by lying on the bed.
He walked back over to her side of the bed.
"Hey?" He called softly.
She did not feel the bed deepen, implying that he was probably standing.
"Yeah." She answered without turning to face him.
"Could you turn around for a second, please?" He asked politely.
"I am tired, and my tummy is aching, I don't want to move from this position." She replied.
He closed in on the bed, just like before he leaned down over her.
"Marry me, please?" He asked. He opened the beautiful polish green velvet jewelry box. In it was a beautiful wedding ring, a perfect blend of elegance and craftsmanship. A band of beautiful red diamonds, assembled together, giving off a pricelessly captivating awe and radiance. He gently presented her with it.
She quickly raised her body, supporting her head on her palms while her elbow rested on the soft pillow.
"Alex?" She called softly, just to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
"Yes Lara, would you marry me?" He asked again, more confidently especially as her eyes beamed upon visualizing what was held in front of her.
"You got me a ring?" She asked, probably still trying to connect the moment with reality and not her illusions.
"Yes !" He answered with a smile, still patiently waiting for her smile.
She sat upright, turning to face him linearly.
He too adjusted his position, so that he sat on the bed facing her.
His eyes were filled with great expectations, his heart was at the verge of popping out of his chest. It felt so surreal that he was finally living this moment, proposing to the woman he felt in love with.
He'd had the ring with him for exactly a couple of weeks now, but he had never mustered up the courage to ask her the question.
'Funny though,' he thought to himself. He'd been with Claire for a good number of years but marriage was an idea that never popped up in his head...even by accident, not to mention it being in his dictionary at that point.
But here he was, staring at a woman he barely knew six months ago but he was proposing to her, wanting to spend his everyday with her.
She smiled brightly at him, tugged her hair behind her ear.
He smiled back and dropped his eyes to her ring finger. He pictured how beautiful she'll look with the diamond ring on her finger…. The red diamonds reflecting under dim light perhaps. He could not help but smile at the thought.
"Alex?" She called softly, she licked her lips, dampening them before she spoke.
He stayed silent and stared back at her with a smile plastered on his face too. He wanted to reach for her hand and excitedly slide the ring on, but he decided to be patient and be a gentleman.
"I know that you care about me alot, and you'll do anything to make me happy," she started.
His face dropped.
"But, I don't want you to marry me because I am pregnant or because you want to save me and my family from shame." She said,
"I'm not marrying because of any of that, I was gonna propose anyway… I just did not have the balls to do it." He said with a chuckle. "That's why I got the ring." He Chuckled nervously.
"Because, you thought that I'll say no, right?"
"I was scared of what I'd do if you said no." He confessed.
Her heart melted.
"For how long have you had the ring?" She asked.
"I ordered it when we got here, but I only received it a couple of weeks ago." He explained.
"So you knew that, now with the baby, I'll definitely say yes huh?" She asked.
"I just think it is the right moment." He replied.
"For you not me." She stared at him sorrowfully.
"What are you insinuating?" He asked in panic.
"Oh, Alex!" She licked her lips and swallowed saliva, dampening her parched throat. "I can't marry you."
